Recent reviews by (YouTube)Dragnix

Target Audience: Explorers that want to poke around strongly. Not for many others

Summary:

Brush Burial is one of those games that's going to have a real specialized audience. It's an immersive sim that has some elements that will frustrate, and the expectation of most players may not be met as an immersive sim isn't exactly the easiest to reach from a solo indie developer. Immersive sims try to give a lot of freedom, and when you run into roadblocks or expected outcomes that don't work out, you will start to get frustrated. And let's be clear: there are paths in Brush Burial, like talking and giving borscht that don't have a reason outcome, or attempting to complete things with more diplomacy, that will feel like they should be there. The game can sometimes fight it's own low fidelity look, and the repetition can start to really be felt when everything respawns even when you save and then close the game, and re open.

With that said, technically the systems at there are core do work reasonably. Movement, despite some jank at times, does feel interesting with the tail grabbing element. The inventory being limited forces you to make decisions about what to carry. But the biggest thing is the idea of discovery here. It may be a short map (well, actually I can't confirm that but I did what I could) but I kept on finding little things here and there even 6 hours in. Fighting is functional but does get old quickly, but trying to sneak around does have a feeling of old Thief games in some ways.

Look, this is for players who love to get lost, who love to try things, and won't be frustrated when it doesn't work. Is it for everyone? Hell no. But it gets the thumbs up despite being a game that a majority of people may not like. It's strong enough in that sub-category to get the recommendation: but only if you're dedicated to that play.


Video Review: : https://youtu.be/3p3oA8UEyCc

Lists:
Positives:

• Exploration can feel rewarding in terms of experimentation and wonder, even with some of the roadblocks.
  
• Mechanically works on each sub system, not a lot of technical problems from a design portion for each system.
  
• Low Fidelity look does bring some nostalgia to the table, can give haunting feelings.
  
• Inventory system being limited actually forces you to interact in ways that make the game better.

Negatives:

• One too many instances of a perceived solution not working out, and getting frustrated.
  
• Systems combining together is the games biggest weakness: it could use more fleshing out in the big picture. Focusing on one system more could have really pushed the game into better places.
  
• Combat needs a little more too it in the big picture.
  
• Stay far away if you get lost easily.

Target Audience: Strategic players who want some action

Summary:

Yes, you may look on the surface and see Gunhead's weaponry and FPS backdrop: it'd be easy to think it'd be an action packed shooting fest. But it's not: but that doesn't mean it isn't a lot of fun. Anyone who played Cryptark will understand the type of game Gunhead is: a game which puts your strategy and planning above reaction times. Rushing through will get you killed, but being smart and observant, you'll start to make progress. It feels great to get through all the enemies without taking damage, with good variation of enemies and different objectives. Granted, it takes some time to get used to, and the fact is this is a game that's designed for a controller (giving the weapon loadouts, it controls movement great either way). But once you understand what the game is going for, and make mistakes and learn from them, you'll find a game that you're going to love from a strategy standpoint.

Are there things that can be annoying/I would change? Perhaps. Radar can be hard to deal with at times from a visual perspective, and the bosses could use more of an oompf on them. But the thing is, it's hard to really focus on them when in the same breathe, the overall experience succeeds. One of the biggest things that I took out of the game was that the game designers knew when to restrict the power and balance on mechanics. Sure, feeling overpowered at times can be fun, but knowing that explosive weapons can be hell in enclosed spaces for examples helps limit them at their core, and it feels like that across the board when it comes to each mechanic. It feels like a game that was played a 1000 times to make sure that not one thing was too broken: and that's really appreciated.

Is Gunhead going to blow your socks off? No, there's no one feature that makes you ooo and aaa: but it's a game that I could see eating up time week and week: still having tons of fun, but also making you feel fantastic when you succeed, or stupid when you fail because of your own fault. It's well worth the price of admissions, and is a worthy successor to Cryptark.


Video Review: : https://youtu.be/2NDMEB7UX9c

Lists:
Positives:

• Great balance and focus on strategy and smart but reasonable movement. Game understood that restricting certain elements and not being traditional in some ways helped in making the game better as a whole.
  
• One more run mentality, but not to the point where you can't put it down from an addictive standpoint. Great for runs here and there.
  
• Feels put through its paces from a QA standpoint. Limited bugs (1 that I can't guarentee was other software interferring),
  
• Atmosphere captured well especially when getting snuck up on, or dealing with multiple enemies.
  
• Good ebb and flow of combat overall.
  
• Good variety of weapons, items, enemies, and layouts to keep you coming back.

Negatives:

• Sound design not impactful enough.
  
• Bosses could use some oompf.
  
• Radar can be hard for some people to really take advantage of.
  
• Could use a touch more visual variety.
  
• Do wonder if the game would be taken up a notch with restricting the ability to change out weapons without going back to the base/mid-mission.

If you want more reviews/information regarding games I've reviewed, visit my curator. Dragnix Curator

Target Audience: Those who really want a linear beat em up with references. Really

Summary:

Look, I try to be understanding of the fact that small indie teams may not have the resources or the knowledge to fully pull off their vision. It's admirable, and sometimes it doesn't come together, and this is definitely the case for Vengeance of Mr. Peppermint. The repetitive gameplay without the movement in the vertical direction gets old very quickly with repeated enemies. The combos help, but there's a lot of confusion about why certain elements activate (intermission randomly, health recovery) and there's some really confusing decisions about the implementation (why do enemies get hit off screen appear on the other side?).

The story is also....confusing. Very very confusing. The translation element comes into play a lot, the dialog feels very unnatural and read through a translation tool, and that's despite the fact that the game is trying to be weird about its story to begin with. It's nice to see all the references to movies like Kill Bill and The Raid, but it also feels like it's trying to be more “hey look we referenced this” rather then making its own thing.

Its also buggy, or just strange in its implementation. Characters will spawn in and be unable to hit you, sometimes enemies all get up at the same time in a creepy “wait, why have they been on the ground for the last 5 minutes”, and at one point the game just stopped taking my input. There were points where in menus up would mean down.

In the end, where the game suffers the most is the playability. It gets old very quickly, with the repetition not even making it past the second stage without reasonable changes to the formula. It felt like the game had a lot bigger ambitions at some point, and the remanents were still present in the game.

It's a pass, sadly.




Stream Footage: : https://youtu.be/vm12MS6qsRk

Lists:
Positives:

• References to Kung-Fu films definitely appreciated, even if some of the characters are a little too close to their counter parts.
  
• Reasonable Visuals.
  
• Weird at times in a good way.

Negatives:

• Repetative gameplay gets old well into the first hour. Lack of reasonable gameplay variation leads to button mashing, and not a lot of strategy.
  
• Questionable decisions on implementation (weird Intermission mechanic, enemies going from one side of the screen to another) ends up frustrating.
  
• There's no sense of fairness (you can be juggled in the right circumstances without having chances to get up, and vice versa) that makes you think it's worth the effort.
  
• It's repetitive. I'm doing this to make a point.
  
• Story feels like you're reading it through a third party translator and can be a garbled mess at times.
  
• Very buggy. Not crashy, but behaviors that don't make sense, controls that don't respond, or even enemies that spawn that you can't interact with.
  
• it's repetitive. Have I made my point yet?

If you want more reviews/information regarding games I've reviewed, visit my curator. Dragnix Curator

Target Audience: Imaginative Players who like Visuals

Summary:

Honestly, I wish this game was a lot better then it was. Its visuals and world design is great, and is definitely the shining star of this experience. Sure, you've seen elements like it before, but the combination of the strange creatures and the good detailed artwork still will drive your imagination. The environmental storytelling does a good job of constructing something that will make you feel like a kid, daydreaming about going on adventures.

Sadly, that's the bright spot. The actual point and click elements are below average, feeling either too much like the game points you too much to the solution, or way not enough. Rarely did I feel smart completing a section, mostly because frustration would usually set in. Logic at times can seem off, and the game's transition from mobile to PC doesn't do it any favors. Click hints that cycle as oppose to hihglight all things gets annoying, the lack of keybinds can be frustrating, and the game's all for nothing nature with its hint system makes it feel like you're being curated through it as opposed to you exploring.

Look, the sad thing is, I want this game to sell well. I do, because I want to see more of the artwork and drawings. But from a strictly game standpoint: it fails to deliver, and there's so many games that do it better. Especially at 10 dollars: despite the game not being horrible. It's just, there's too many better ones out there.


Video Reivew: : https://youtu.be/VbbnuvmxBnA

Lists:
Positives:

• Imaginative visuals that make you want to see more of this strange, interesting world.
  
• Can create a dystopian atmosphere that makes you want to explore.
  
• Some good puzzles at times.

Negatives:

• Puzzles don't give the satisifaction of completion: usually being too broad or too specific to really make you stress your brain cells.
  
• Color scheme can start to lose detail especially with the pulled back angle at times, making you not notice interactables, or even understand what you're looking at.
  
• Hint system being all or nothing is frustrating, want a poking in the right direction as opposed to an IKEA step by step guide.
  
• Highlighting interactables is a chore and can even cause more confusion at times.

If you want more reviews/information regarding games I've reviewed, visit my curator. Dragnix Curator

Target Audience: Those Who Like Roller Coaster Rides/Survival Horror Players

Summary:

Daymare 1994: Sandcastle is one of those games that will stick with you, and not in 100% positive ways mind you. The game does have problems, don't get me wrong, and I understand why at the time of this review that the rating is mixed. It's one of those games where you have to take the games faults with its positives: and even then it can be hard to justify that price tag. But, what I will say it's a game that stuck with me during the entire time I played it.

I disagree with some of the reviews regarding the speed of the enemies being a huge negative against the game: the focus on the use of the frost grip to crowd control on top of the clunky yet usable combat system enhances the feeling of facing a foe while still being able to fight them off: the game feeds you enough resources to help but not enough to be comfortable. The game's pacing in the first 2/3rds is great, and the game always catches you with a zombie out of nowhere to put you back on to your heels. For an indie game, it's pretty great looking, and the story while lying in the B horror movie class of story, does have layers to it.

The last third of the game, things start to fall off the rails. The great pacing seems to go out the window, the enemies/encounters don't feel as balanced, and there's one room in particular that I can safely say took several points off my review just because it still exists. It really does feel like at points content was cut in this last third, as jumps in story and progression feel weirdly missing.


Video Reivew: : https://youtu.be/o0LI_kmIB_o

Lists:
Positives:

• Survival Horror elements work well in keeping you on edge and not feeling comfortable: jank and speedy enemies included.
  
• Pacing in the first 2/3rds of the game really is fantastic.
  
• For a non-triple A studio, reasonable work with the Unreal 4 Engine, and some good details on environmental/models.
  
• A love of survival horror is present: references left and right exist and will be appreciated by lovers of the genre.
  
• Reasonable sound design and directional sound.
  
• B movie story has reasonable layers to it. Ending is dumb in a Nascar crash kind of way.

Negatives:

• The one room listed in the video. A huge misstep in the game's design, where controllers will be broken.
  
• The last third falls off the rails in terms of pacing and feels like things are missing at points.
  
• Would have liked to see one or two more enemy types in the big picture, and maybe one or two more bosses.
  
• I still don't know what that ending was. From a coherent aspect though, it's a bad ending.

If you want more reviews/information regarding games I've reviewed, visit my curator. Dragnix Curator

Target Audience: Masochists

Summary:

Look, I hate to dump onto what was probably a disappointing launch for the developers here. There's obviously talent on this 2 person team, as the drawing quality and the visuals do have something that captures an alternative old cartoon. They have some good mechanics in the controls and shooting. But it's also obvious that the devs bit off more they could chew: and it really shows in the small details. Where it's not obvious where safe spaces are when dodging certain elements, almost like it needed a few more passes to understand if the player can reasonably figure out if they can avoid damage. It's things like the inconsistent rule set, where colors first mean you should hit them with that spell.....and then it doesn't....then it does. It's the pace of combat that's really inconsistent: this is something that Cuphead really got down well, and here it feels really start and stop at times.

This is consistent where the little things that make a game work like this has issues. Sound is one of the biggest problems: where indicators of hits or not are sometimes there, and sometimes not. The information that a player would use is inconsistent: and that's a death note for a game like this: if the player can't expect consistency: they are going to get frustrated. Sure, there's some good boss patterns and some interesting platforming sections, but they feel ready to fall apart rather then being solid.

It's a test of frustration, and not a frustration that fuels you forward to try to overcome it. It frustrates you in ways that makes you just want to play something else, sadly.


Stream Footage: : https://youtu.be/6fKqCXMJnkA

Lists:
Positives:

• Colorful drawings and worlds that do bring a sense of whismy
  
• The game does have moments where it's firing on all cylinders and it can be fun.
  
• For a two person team, this is a reasonable product, and I do think they did some good work here....but......

Negatives:

• Inconsistent rules lead to frustration in moment to moment gameplay.
  
• Feels like it hasn't gone through it's QA paces. There's definite elements that feel off, where damage indicators aren't present, or there's an animation that's seemingly not playing.
  
• Difficulty feels more of a system breaking then of design. Lots of “oh, come on” moments. Problems with giving information to the user.
  
• Sound Design in general feels lacking and lacks any sort of oompf.
  
• Feels very limited when it comes to playstyle: there were ways with different weapons and charms in other games to slightly change: here it's very by the numbers.

If you want more reviews/information regarding games I've reviewed, visit my curator. Dragnix Curator

Target Audience: Arcade Players/ Star Fox Lovers

Summary:

So you wanted a roguelite star fox game to play? Yeah, you're in the right place. Granted, there's definitely improvements that can be made as the game goes along to expand the replayability and to take the game to an even higher level, but the fact of the matter is is that Whisker Squadron Survivor has the feeling of space battles, arcade gameplay, and one more run nature down relatively well in its early going. The controls and procedural level design work hand in hand that feel right: using the available tools to dodge in and out of various enemies. Runs may start slow, but they ramp up with numbers and projectiles, and the sheer numbers of projectiles and enemies can make for some exhilarating sequences and tense filled gameplay. Granted, I did want more levels in the big picture, but the arcade nature and procedural generation did enough to keep my interest and feed a one more run mentality.

Where the game starts to shine is it modifier system, where the game allows for more “arcade” shenanigans like speeding up the gameplay 2x, or even having gravity effect bullets. It feeds the replayability element, and I hope that the developer does more with it and lets it fly with ridiculous things. The visuals can get over bearing at times with the sheer amount of information on screen, but for the most part you can tell what is going on when you need to. Music is good, sound is good, although the music will get repetitive despite the tracks being catchy.

Really, this is one of those games that I will keep on coming back to as Early Access goes on, and I really think that if you add even more weapons/enemies/etc to it, it could be the defining “Star Fox” type experience in the roguelike genre. Even if that doesn't happen, it's still worth the price of admission and time now, but it has the potential to be so much more.


Early Access Review Video: : https://youtu.be/_6IjLwQUApE

Lists:
Positives:

• Star Fox type gameplay is familiar and addictive: shooting down enemies and boosting through gets the dopamine receptors going.
  
• Controls are exactly where they need to be for level design. Responsive enough for the levels without being too forgiving, and allowing for some high level play.
  
• Good mix of roguelite elements to change formula up.
  
• Modifier system really can change things up and pushes the game into play now territory.
  
• Base music tracks are action packed and can end up getting stuck in your head.

Negatives:

• 2 Levels start to get old even with procedural generation.
  
• 3-4 Color presentation can start to wear on eyes, especially with the pink sky in the first level.
  
• Really, the biggest negative isn't a negative to stop you from buying, it's just that more enemy variety, more levels, more everything would take the game to an absolute must play. It could be the shining star of the indie experience with that.

If you want more reviews/information regarding games I've reviewed, visit my curator. Dragnix Curator

Target Audience: Those Really Desperate For a Survivors Experience

Summary:

With the sheer amount of Survivors games and the different styles available, you'd think that one based on a train would get a recommendation at the low price. But honestly, what the game ended up doing was just frustrating me with its converted interface from the mobile port, to the point where it felt like I was fighting the game to actually play it. The on rail tracks gameplay does have some interesting elements in how you choose your upgrades, but not meaningful enough choices to really make repeated sessions any more signifcantly different from run to run. After 20 minutes, I felt like the game had shown me a good majority of what it was able to do. I also felt that when it came to the choices I had, they felt....not that significant in the big picture.

It doesn't help that visually, it isn't anything great to look at. Maybe this works more on a mobile device at the resolution there, but the Sepia tones and feedback just made me want to stop looking at it very quickly. Look, I don't want to beat up a game that's this cheap: this game is functional in certain aspects and may give the rush that people are looking for. But it's in a genre that's exploded with a lot of different takes and ideas: and most of them work better then Choo Choo Survivor. It doesn't even really play well into its themes to be honest.

Just a Pass.

Stream Footage: : https://youtu.be/_pOokTjrTgY

Lists:
Positives:

• The different weapon combinations could be interesting in a vaccum.
  
• Functional in performance.

Negatives:

• Gameplay gets repetitive way too quickly in all the wrong ways.
  
• Decisions don't really feel that significant in the big picture. Strategy feels insignifcant as opposed to just getting any upgrade for weapons.
  
• Controls feel like they were secondary for this platform, and don't feel natural.
  
• Lacks oompf in presentation, and rewarding feeling visually with color scheme and presentation.
  
• Just doesn't have enough compared to others in the survivors genre.

If you want more reviews/information regarding games I've reviewed, visit my curator. Dragnix Curator

Target Audience: Punch-Out Fans.

Summary:

Vanillabeast Retro Knock-Out will feel like the days of sitting in front of your NES and repeatedly pushing yourself against a challenge that's doable, but will take time. It's a game that follows strict patterns and will not be for some: but for those looking for a challenge, its' going to be a game that's right up your alley. Mix in some themes and some annoyances and you've got a game that's going to be either a love or hate for a majority of people out there.

The game's solid fighting mechanics and focusing on pattern recognition and learning does really shine in some of the best fights of the game, and I do appreciate that every opponent that I faced really did feel significantly different. The game is bathed in references left and right and while I didn't get all of them, I did appreciate most of them, and some of the more re-used music loops are really catchy for fighting. I actually would have liked to see more focus on an integration of story and gameplay: I actually think the segments where these cross over more were extremely effective.

You will have annoyances though. Those who have played older punch outs will find slight differences that will feel like you need to know what's coming: whether it be the very short time on tells or the lack of “staggering” of opponents leading into their combinations when you punch at the wrong time. The game also has some annoyances when it comes to the little things: like not being able to skip the guy talking about the chicken, or some particular songs that play that makes you want to throw your headphones at certain points of the game.

You'll get frustrated while playing the game, but the game is not going to apologize for that, and you have to understand that. This isn't a game that's designed for newcomers or people wanting a step down: it wants to push you. And if you want that: then it's the perfect game for you.

Review Video: : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PwuLM-4mV8

• Solid fighting system that focuses on pattern recognition that is doable but comes with experience.
  
• Good variety of fighters and styles that will make a good amount of the fights feel unique.
  
• Good Humor when it hits. Nice series of references.
  
• Good challenge overall.
  
• Story elements when directly connected to gameplay work well.
  
• Core music is great, and you're able to listen to it without getting sick of it.

Negatives:

• Game at times can feel like you need prior knowledge to make it longer in the fight: slight differences in timing and staggering can lead to frustration.
  
• There are elements that will annoy you and get under your skin, especially when you have to see them/listen to them over and over again (The Chicken Joke is a prime example)
  
• There are small hiccups with certain animations/things that look janky at times.
  
• Some humor swings and wildly misses, unless you “get” it.

Target Audience: Those who want a game with potential come to life

Summary:

I admit, Zombie Soup disappointed me despite me thinking that there's potential for the game in the long term. I always want to see a smaller studio and game succeed, but I'm just baffled by some of the decisions and elements that came into the game. The game feels like a weird 90s kids horror with seemingly weird (badly translated?) writing at times, but it gets the mood across. The controls and base gameplay when it comes to firing is reasonable, and there are flashes of a game that could be interesting in very particular circumstances that the game tests you without being frustrating.

But that's few and far between right now. The cramp nature of the level design in the early going feels like a game not designed with the particular control/speed in mind, and there's just many moments where you wonder if the AI is going to even bother with you. The hotel nature in the early going leads to chokepoints that are easily exploitable, and you really don't feel any pressure at all. There's a boss fight early on where I literally didn't have him attack for 3/4ths of the fight, because my speed and circle strafing just confused it enough to just....not attack. Then the “second” phase hits, and all of a sudden the fight is fun, and I'm sitting here going “WHERE WAS THAT THE FIRST PART OF THE FIGHT”. There feels like hidden potential here if designed the right way.

But then you hit one of the boss fights toward the end of the hotel, and I'm sitting there wondering who flipped the script, and all the problems come pouring out. Attacks that take up a huge chunk of the screen, with barely any feedback that it did damage from a sound design and visual perspective. Then comes an attack when the boss is towards its death that I literally still don't know how to avoid, and it exposes a huge problem with the game giving you the in-combat information to really succeed in the end.

Like, if the game is massaged heavily and takes a lot of feedback, there is potential for a good top down shooter here. But with it having so many stumbles out the gate, I'm not sure if I'd want to put in the effort to really help it along the way with so many other good ones out there. It's a pass for me, but something to look at if it develops over time.



Stream Footage: : https://youtu.be/Kv3LZ9Yovcs

Lists:
Positives:

• Vibe is off in a good way, has a weird 90s kids horror presentation with bad acting and shenigans.
  
• Control Set and base movement and firing feel good.
  
• Flashes of the games potential in certain fights.

Negatives:

• Frustrating lack of feedback in key moments and combat lead to wondering how the hell you can get through a section, and if the fight is even winnable. That is complemented with...
  
• Early difficulty is laughable at times, providing no challenge what so ever, then running into a brick wall. The progression is way, way far off.
  
• Cramped early game doesn't take advantage of controls, and your speed basically dealing with every enemy just fine seems like it was the reason for that crampness. It just doesn't feel right.
  
• Enemy AI in a game like this should be somewhat exploitable and dumb....but not this much. It's laughable that the basic enemies sometimes won't even get to you halfway before dying, or even bother with you even if you're standing right next to them.
  
• Feels like a game that had an engine put together, and the potential put forward in it, but the design team had no idea how to really use that to the best of their abilities.
  
• Really weird presentation chioices in color scheme make it hard to focus at times, and then coupled with a mismatch of aesthetics that feel like custom assets were all made, but no one could really setttle on one particular style.

If you want more reviews/information regarding games I've reviewed, visit my curator. Dragnix Curator